What Is Web Scraping And How It Can Support Your Business

The amount of business data one can find in the virtual space is growing at a tremendous pace as more and more companies become interested in establishing a strong presence online.

This endeavor to promote your business on the Internet in order to reach more customers is a natural phenomenon of our days and many companies work to make sure they control the online narrative on their products and services.

But since we have so much business-related data out there, is there any other way companies can use it to their advantage?

And when we’re talking about companies, we can’t avoid mentioning the online ventures and tech startups that require specific information in order to grow their businesses by integrating the collected data into the marketing & sales campaigns or simply to improve their services and solutions.

But how do we get the publicly available data we need in a fast, secure, and anonymous manner?

To obtain the data we require for market research, sales intelligence, web testing, price comparison, SEO, social media, or for other reasons, we need to rely on high-quality proxies to engage in web scraping operations that can support our business development.

Let’s find out together what web scraping is and how a company can use this online extraction method to increase its business perspectives.

What is web scraping?

Web scraping is a data extraction activity that allows the user to obtain content from the online space. The user may be a regular individual who wants to collect data for private usage or a company that is looking to extract information for business purposes.

The need to obtain business-related data from the online space emerged when users were ‘forced’ to find a reliable method to extract large chunks of information in a rapid, easy, and anonymous manner.

Since it is well-known that the IP addresses we use reveal a great deal of information about our true identities offering important data to outside parties - such as the country, city, the street name, and the ISP - users interested in web scraping had to find a reliable method to obtain the required information in complete privacy.

For this reason, a number of proxy solutions appeared offering the right tools for those looking to engage in web scraping activities.

Though as users we may have to deal with a great number of proxies for web scraping, at the end of the day, if we want to make sure we reach our targets, we should always select a reliable set of rotating residential proxies.

So, even though it may appear as the proxies are better at offering the necessary speed for scraping, it is important to remember that the privacy part plays a major role in this industry, and companies that rely on proxies are fully aware of that.

Let’s find out how web scraping can support your business.

How can web scraping support your business?

Companies that use proxies to engage in web scraping activities range from major businesses to emerging startups, each of them looking to obtain the latest public information from an ever-changing online environment where only the fittest survive.

Therefore, in such a context of growing competition between various players, each company needs to remain connected to the latest developments in the market and keep a close eye on the main competitors.

It is thus only normal for any company - developed or emerging - to try obtaining some insights from other players in order to access a wide range of business details, from the product prices to the way a company understands to enhance its brand image.

Though one may argue that web scraping can be equally executed by employees specially designed for this job, we have to emphasize that a human mind is less capable towards putting a large amount of data into a coherent format fast and without error.

Furthermore, high-quality scraping with proxies is an activity that works better when relying on a partner who can offer the right tools for the required jobs and the necessary means to rotate proxies for better results and performance.

Web scraping can support your business if you are interested in attracting high-value content for sales, marketing, and product development. 

Some of the most popular business cases for companies that use proxies in web scraping include:

• Scraping the latest prices from the competition 

Price-wise, you need to know where you stand in the market. Are your prices competitive or maybe you charge too much for your services?

Why not check the competition to compare the numbers?

Or is there a major celebration on the way - maybe Christmas - and you’re not sure how much of a discount you should offer to your customers?

Take a fast look at your main competitors and remain connected to the latest changes in the market to deliver the best prices.

• Going after customers

Web scraping is an essential part of developing your business perspectives by attracting online data that can make a difference.

But that’s not all you can use proxies for as these tools can be quite helpful in finding and attracting customers who would be interested to test your products and services.

Further on, online scraping can be used to extract important details about individuals who can become valuable customers later.

For instance, you can engage in web scraping on various forums and platforms where people interested in your niche industry may reside.

With the right proxies at work, you can extract the email addresses of your potential customers from various platforms in order to target them later via email marketing campaigns.

• Monitoring the brand reputation

What are your customers thinking about your company? How do they see your brand and your latest products or services?

All these details make up a major part of your marketing strategy and you should be aware of that.

Using web scraping, a business can monitor different online platforms where people mention the company’s name.

Take all that data into account and adapt to the permanent changes in a market where customers decide which companies thrive and which ones are soon forgotten.

• Improving the SEO plan

SEO is a major aspect of any marketing strategy and every company is naturally interested in discovering the best tools and methods to remain ahead of the competitors, especially in Google’s ‘heart’.

But how do we obtain the best keywords and create great content when we don’t know where to start?

Well, with the right set of proxies at hand users can easily engage in web scraping operations on competitors’ websites in order to find the best quality content which ranks on the first page of Google search results.

When the content is discovered, it’s not difficult even for an SEO beginner to comprehend the keyword strategy that stands behind a company’s blog.

Just don’t forget that the SEO strategy goes hand in hand with a great set of services or solutions that are equally important in promoting your business.

Which proxies are better for web data scraping

Proxies come in many shapes and sizes as these amazing tools are employed by a great number of people for personal and professional reasons.

The same reasoning applies to companies involved in web scraping activities where the diversified range of business cases makes it important for users to select the right proxy server solutions that get the job done.

Since some of the most popular cases range from SEO and online shopping to more difficult jobs like sales and market intelligence, making the right choice is a major step towards a successful web scraping job.

As a reliable source of proxies, we always recommend customers to select our carefully designed set of residential proxy solutions to obtain stable sessions, great results and data accuracy.

Why choose rotating residential proxies?

For users involved in web scraping, it is quite common to choose the reliable alternative offered by rotating residential proxies and the private connections provided by these solutions.

Though other residential proxies may be sufficient for keeping your identity details secure, when we’re talking about web scraping and websites that are difficult to access - such as the ones belonging to major tech enterprises - we need the reliable capabilities of rotating residential proxies.

But what are the main benefits users looking to engage in web scraping jobs could enjoy from accessing rotating proxies?

To keep it short, with rotating residential proxies at work, users manage to secure content from geo-restricted websites while keeping their genuine IP addresses obscured from the websites they target.

That’s because rotating residential proxy solutions are based on residential IP addresses from home network users that can deliver a great deal of fingerprinting details.

In consequence, when dealing with web scraping activities and looking for the right data, companies that benefit from rotating residential proxies manage not only to secure a high level of privacy and security but also receive the appearance of normal users who browse online for casual reasons.

Rotating residential proxies offer the necessary guarantees to businesses that have to access difficult websites and require the greatest chances of success.